


Taking Care of Each Other

by showmeyourtardis



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Literal Sleeping Together, post uncharted 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showmeyourtardis/pseuds/showmeyourtardis
Summary: When Nate gets injured on his way to Tibet, Elena takes upon herself to take care of him. When Elena almost dies on the way out of Shambalah, it's Nate's turn to play doctor.Takes place in the middle of and at the end of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Relationships: Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63





	Taking Care of Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> wow I really have a thing for Nate and Elena sleeping next to each other don't I? 
> 
> Just a bit of hurt/comfort for you.

Nate felt like he was swimming back to consciousness. He opened his eyes and sunlight burned away his vision. He closed his eyes again, his head heavy with fog and stuffed with cotton wool. He opened his eyes again, anticipating the burning sunlight but found that it wasn’t quite as bright this time. He moved to sit up and pain ripped through his stomach like it was made of paper. He groaned and hands were suddenly there on his shoulders, easing him back down.

“Careful, try not to move,” a familiar voice said.

Nate reopened his eyes, unsure of when they’d closed again. Elena leaned over him, her hair glowing like a halo in the bright sunlight. Her hands lay him back down, and when she noticed he was looking at her, she smiled.

“Elena,” Nate said.

“Nate, welcome back,” she said, releasing him. She perched on the end of the bed and twisted to face him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I thought you might need my help,” she looked pointedly at his stomach which still felt torn wide open, “and I was right.”

Nate rolled his head to the side, it weighed about forty pounds more than normal. He took in the space around him. He was in a bed in a wooden hut. There was brightly coloured fabric around the room, on the walls, hanging over the windows. He couldn’t make sense of where he was, it looked like no hotel he’d ever been in. And it was cold despite the sunlight.

“Where are we?”

“We’re in a small village in Tibet. Do you remember how you got here?” Elena tilted her head to one side in sympathy.

Now that she’d asked, he did remember. He remembered racing to save Chloe, their reunion on the train, a gunshot. Did she shoot him? No, that doesn’t seem right. Flynn shot him. He remembered feeling hopeless, he remembered the explosion. He climbed, he fought, he collapsed in the snow.

“Vaguely,” he said.

“I saw your crash.”

Either he was delirious from his pain or Elena looked worried.

“Aw, were you scared I’d died?” Nate asked with a weak smile.

“Disappointed you didn’t actually. I had your eulogy all thought out. Nathan Drake was an arrogant, reckless, pig-headed-“

“Whoa, hey, I’m already in enough pain over here,” Nate protested.

Elena stood up and headed for the other side of the room. He watched her with heavy eyes. She picked up a bowl of something and carried it carefully over to his bed. When she placed it on the table by his bed, he caught the scent of herbs and something earthy. She reached her hands into the water and pulled out a cloth.

After wringing it out, she held it in one hand and slowly lifted his shirt.

Nate raised his eyebrows, “I’ve always wanted to play doctors and nurses.”

“In this case it’s more like nurse and terminal patient,” Elena said, bringing the damp cloth to his stomach.

He grimaced as she gently pressed the warm compress to his stomach. He didn’t even want to know what his wound looked like. It felt like it was threaded with barbed wire and dipped in acid.

“You could at least wear the outfit,” Nate said through his groans.

He was rewarded with a laugh from Elena, “Ha, you’d be so lucky.”

“That is what they say about me.”

She brought the cloth back to the water and rinsed it. When she wringed it out the second time, he saw his own blood mixed in with the water. He felt sick.

“Am I dying?” he asked.

“You’ve been through worse than this,” Elena said, sincerely.

He felt her hand on his forehead, testing his temperature. She tended to his stomach wound, and then stood again. She returned the bowl to the other side of the room, and Nate watched her search for something. She was wearing a thick, orange coat and tight jeans. He knew he couldn’t stay in this bed forever, he’d have to get back to work finding the Cintamani Stone and rescuing Chloe soon.

Elena returned to his bedside, brandishing bandages. Her hands were gentle and warm as she bandaged his wound. He admired the concentration on her face, the care she took to avoid hurting him.

When she was done, she patted her knees, “I’ll leave you to sleep.”

Nate caught her arm before she could stand. Sleep was threatening to drag him down but he didn’t want to be left alone just yet. He was feeling oddly vulnerable after waking up in a strange land with a stomach wound.

“Stay, for a bit,” Nate said, aware of how weak it made him sound. He ran his hand down her arm until he found her hand.

“For a bit,” she tentatively agreed.

Nate winced as he shifted to make room on the bed. Elena looked reluctant before she gave in and lay in the space Nate had made for her. He brought their entwined hands to his chest, sighing sleepily. He tilted his head to face Elena, struggling to keep his eyes open now.

“You’re a good nurse,” he said.

“Keep hurting yourself and I’ll start charging,” she laughed.

Nate smiled weakly, his eyes drifting closed without meaning to. Elena eased her hand out of his, but he was too tired to take it back.

“You need to sleep, Nate,” she said, softly.

“No, wait, stay,” Nate begged. He didn’t want her to go. He didn’t know why he was so desperate for her to stay but he felt like if she left he’d never see her again.

Nate stretched out an arm and Elena lay back down. She fit into the crook of his arm, cuddled up to his side. Nate rested his hand on her back, fingers splayed. Exhaustion was pulling at him now, he was too tired to move.

“I missed you,” he said, his voice barely louder than a breath.

“We were apart for twelve hours, max,” Elena said.

“No,” Nate whined, too tired to explain himself properly, “After El Dorado, when you were gone, I missed you.”

Sleep overtook him, and he drifted away. But not before he heard Elena whisper, “I missed you, too.”

* * *

Nate’s bones ached with exhaustion. It had been a long and trying time since he’d last been in Tenzin’s spare room. He wasn’t the one in the sick bed this time, but he wished he was. Instead, it was Elena who was lying there unresponsively. She was pallid, her breathing shallow. Nate hadn’t left this room since she’d been brought in here, no matter how hard Sully and Chloe had tried to lure him out, telling him he needed to eat or sleep or do something other than worry over her.

While he watched, Elena groaned. Nate shot out of his seat and was by her side in seconds. A wrinkle of stress formed between her eyebrows and he gently rubbed it away his finger.

“It’s okay,” he said, softly, “It’s all over, Shambalah is gone.”

“Nate?” Elena asked in a croaky voice.

Her eyes opened slowly and he perched on the side of the bed next to her. He smiled down at her even as his worry threatened to bring him to tears. He gently ran a hand down the side of her face, along her cheekbone.

“I guess it’s my turn to play nurse. I asked Sully to bring me the outfit but he couldn’t find my size.”

Elena laughed and her face crumpled immediately, “Ow, don’t make me laugh.”

“Oh, that’s going to be difficult. You find me hilarious.”

“And so humble.”

Nate stood up, not wanting to leave her just yet but he had to be a good nurse. He headed across the room to the bowl of herbs and water Tenzin had made for Elena. He brought it to the bedside table, remembering when their roles had been reversed. It seemed like so long ago now.

He sat on the side of her bed with the damp cloth in one hand. He pulled the neck of her shirt to the side slightly, careful not to expose her, and dabbed the cool cloth against her burn wounds. They would heal, Tenzin had told him they weren’t infected, and then Sully had said the same when Nate had worried he might have misunderstood Tenzin.

After cleaning her wounds, Nate helped Elena sit up and have a drink. He tucked her back in after she’d drank something. He moved to return to the seat he’d camped in for days but Elena’s voice caught him.

“Don’t leave me,” she said. Her voice was so quiet, so soft, that Nate couldn’t possibly refuse.

Elena took her time rolling onto her side. Nate lay down next to her so they were face-to-face. He tucked her hair behind her ear, and she let her eyes drift closed. Nate admired the soft skin on her face. She opened her eyes again and Nate grinned at having been caught staring.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked.

“Yeah...”

“Are you with Chloe? Like, romantically.”

“No.”

“Cool.”

Nate smiled at her, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How relieved were you when I answered?”

Elena shut her eyes but a smile overtook her face, “Shut up, Nate.”

“Seriously, how much did you want to cheer when I said no? A lot?”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Did you or did you not feel the tension in your shoulders just melt away when I-”

“I wish you’d left me in Shambalah,” Elena interrupted.

Nate shifted forward and kissed Elena’s sweaty forehead. He didn’t know where they were going to go from here, but he was happy to stay in this bed for as long as they could.


End file.
